Bar Dates
by wolverinacullen
Summary: On a night in Seattle, Victoria thinks of her loss and how she is coping while Riley has his fun. SONGFIC.


**Bar Dates**

_I know that we are young  
And I know that you may love me  
But I just can't be with you like this anymore  
Alejandro_

It could break her heart, if she had one left to be broken. It was funny...the pieces were so shattered there weren't even pieces anymore. Together, the two of them had killed the whole bar, just like she'd done once...with James. At the very thought of his name, Victoria winced. She sighed and took the pack of cigarettes from the dead man's pocket, tapping one out. Smoking was a nasty habit, but she felt like she needed to do something...before it all happened again. There were times she wished she could have an excuse...drugs or alcohol, anything even...not to face the harsh reality that was before her. Yes, even those who'd seen the most blood, and had never flinched...went insane eventually.

_She's got both hands  
In her pocket  
And she won't look at you (won't look at you)  
She hides true love  
En su bolsillo  
She's got a halo around her finger  
Around you_

Hell yes it hurt. Riley was having the time of his life staging the massacre. The thing...the horrid picture in her hand was of _them._ Edward Cullen and Isabella Swan. From the paper. It was sad, they had so little news they reported the Cullen family's return to Forks...and of course, Edward and Bella looked blissfully happy. She took the bottle of whiskey from behind the counter and drenched the towel in the sink. She wanted this to burn and burn well. She held the lighter to the edge of the picture and dropped it on the soaked towel, watching the flames engulf it instantly. Riley was looking at her. She didn't care, because she felt it again. Smooth, stone hands on her back. She wanted to cry, she felt so far gone...

_You know that I love you boy  
Hot like Mexico  
Rejoice  
At this point I've gotta choose  
Nothing to lose_

"Vicky" an all-too-familiar, seductive croon breathed in her ear. The phantom hands slid from her back around her waist. She felt his arms, his chest, as if she could lean back into him and he'd embrace her. He'd kiss her like there was no tomorrow and they'd be making love on the countertop of the bar until either dawn rose or they broke it, whichever came first.

"Not here, please not in front of Riley" she whispered to herself. These moments she liked to have alone, away from her pretend lover-her puppet boy. If he ever knew how badly she yearned for James...why she was always unspeaking when she kissed him...why she never whispered his name like a sweet nothing, it was because James's would always be the one on her tongue. Even in death, the man held her heart, soul, even had a claim on her body. She trembled, almost letting a sob escape. Insanity was like being drunk to her, she had her bouts and went on her merry way. Now she felt worse than ever before, wrapped up in James's phantom arms. She could almost feel the light butterfly kisses he'd press to her neck until her back was on the counter under him, a split second moment, and his body would be clashing with hers in a war she was all too willing to lose.

_Don't call my name  
Don't call my name  
Alejandro  
I'm not your babe  
I'm not your babe  
Fernando  
Don't wanna kiss  
Don't wanna touch  
Just smoke my cigarette, hush  
Don't call my name  
Don't call my name  
Roberto_

"Victoria...?" Riley asked. He approached her, and she flung the whiskey bottle uncharacteristically, "SHUT UP!" She wanted to scream at the sky above, asking why? Why was she cursed with this feeling? Why didn't she just have peace? Her answer to herself was simple; because James was really there. He didn't have peace, so she didn't have peace. It was so easy to be wandering...alone...and feel him. She had to believe he was still there with her. It felt so solid, so real...

He chuckled in her ear, "Attagirl. Never let him touch you like I do. I love you Vicky, and you're still mine."

"I know" she whispered to the angelic voice she had no idea where it was coming from.

_Alejandro  
Alejandro  
Ale-Alejandro  
Ale-Alejandro-e-ro  
Stop  
Please, just let me go  
Alejandro  
Just let me go_

He could just not be here. She knew, if she let go, he'd be gone. These fantasies...maybe they were delusions...they'd be gone, and she could focus on Riley. No, she didn't want that, she decided. She never wanted that. But her phantom disappeared, and she was left in the bar with a very frightened newborn. She climbed up onto the countertop, the cigarette hanging from her glossy red lips almost seductively. Riley took one sweeping look over the skimpy cherry red dress to her lips and he was beside her in an instant. She could've laughed in his face, shoved him aside and told him to be a man like James had been, but she didn't. He plucked the cigarette from between her lips and took a puff, exhaling the smoke in her face. Was it supposed to be sexy? She found it revolting.

_She's not broken  
She's just a baby  
But her boyfriend's like her dad  
Just like a dad  
And all those flames that  
Burned before him  
Now he's gotta firefight  
Gotta cool the bad  
You know that I love you boy  
Hot like Mexico  
Rejoice  
At this point I've gotta choose  
Nothing to lose  
_

She's an idiot. Falling in love with a vampire. And a pansy like him tops it. He's not a real man...he's a game-player. He should be with Riley...now there would be a sight. Victoria snickered to herself. For a moment, she got caught up in the moment. She hated Bella so much...Riley was whispering things to her, about the ways they'd kill her enemies...it turned her on. For a moment, she could pretend he was James. She could pretend he was strong, and willing to force her to see his way, because his way was usually the right way. James had always had persuasive arguments, and when he knew he couldn't win with words, he won with kisses, touches, the works. He gave her everything she had a whim for. But away from that...Riley and James could be similar, in a way. They both had-and did-shower her with praise. The kisses she received were nothing short of true love. The moments like this...a hunt gone awry, were nothing more than playful. The difference she felt in her blood was that she didn't love Riley. No, not even if she had never met James could she love this boy. Be his friend, well perhaps if she were whole. She wasn't all bad...she just needed him. She needed someone in this hell of a life she was condemned to. Riley could just...be her replacement. Her pretend love. And she'd sometimes forget she was in pain with the things he did, or when he did the right things...and that was okay. For a while.

_Don't call my name  
Don't call my name  
Alejandro  
I'm not your babe  
I'm not your babe  
Fernando  
Don't wanna kiss  
Don't wanna touch  
Just smoke my cigarette, hush  
Don't call my name  
Don't call my name  
Roberto  
Alejandro  
Alejandro  
Ale-Alejandro  
Ale-Alejandro-e-ro_

Mirrors were shattered, the bar had been soaked in whiskey and she was so ready to set it aflame like the picture, but then she caught sight of herself...and couldn't stop staring. Yes, her vibrant red hair still looked as if it were alive...a separate entity, but it was the most life she saw in herself. Her burgundy eyes were hollow, dead...did she always lack such emotion? All she saw was her own pain...her own fury...it was tangible. Wasn't she fooling Riley, or was he taking pity on her? The damned dress was torn up at the hem from their destruction, and it made her remember her simpler, happier times...with James...it nearly sent her into a depression. She could've dropped to the floor and lay there, unmoving, for centuries. But she stared. She forced her sobs back and gazed at the woman in the mirror that couldn't be the Victoria she remembered.

_Don't bother me  
Don't bother me  
Alejandro  
Don't call my name  
Don't call my name  
Bye Fernando  
I'm not your babe  
I'm not your babe  
Alejandro  
Don't wanna kiss  
Don't wanna touch  
Fernando  
_

"It's time!" Riley yelled, laughing as he spun her out in the street. She forced a smile as he lit the bar ablaze and proceeded to dance around the inferno like a madman. It was almost comical...she remembered a time when it would've been. If James were only here to see this, he would've shook his head and asked her why in the lord's name she'd changed that imbecile. She would've laughed, and kissed him, and they just might have pushed Riley in the blaze and run away. Then again, maybe James would've liked the boy. Kept him around. James had mentioned once, in their first years together, of how he wished he'd had a sibling-preferably a younger brother to teach how to hunt, and thief, and someone to look out for...he'd made up for that with her. His love, his protectiveness...it was just who he'd been.

_Don't call my name  
Don't call my name  
Alejandro  
I'm not your babe  
I'm not your babe  
Fernando  
Don't wanna kiss  
Don't wanna touch  
Just smoke my cigarette, hush  
Don't call my name  
Don't call my name  
Roberto  
_

She sighed as she realized how deeply she'd loved James, and how hard she'd fallen, how fast...it was almost like a dream she'd been woken from...to the hell she faced with Riley. She didn't want him to speak to her, to say her name so lovingly...that was all for James.

"I'm here. I'm still with you" James's voice whispered in her ear.

"I know my love, I'm still with you" she murmured back. She forced herself out of the daze and said, clearly, "Riley, come now, it's time to go."

He flashed her a toothy grin and was at her side instantly. She rolled her eyes and began to run. She'd known that look-he wanted to put his hand in hers and run with her. Too bad she already felt another hand on hers as she ran, a phantom who, even in death, was still fast enough to keep up with her as effortlessly as he had once in life.

Her James...was still her James.

_Alejandro  
Alejandro  
Ale-Alejandro  
Ale-Alejandro-e-ro_

The End

**Song: Alejandro- Lady Gaga**


End file.
